U.S. Wins Three Medals on Saturday at the 2021 World Rowing Under 23 Championships

The U.S. won three medals – silver in the women's pair and bronze in the men's four with coxswain and lightweight women's pair – on Saturday at the 2021 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. The U.S. will have a chance at three additional medals during Sunday's finals.

 

The women's pair of Lucy Koven (Greenwich, Conn./Princeton University) and Caitlin Esse (Fairfield, Conn./University of Michigan), who won the silver medal in the event at the 2018 World Rowing Junior Championships, repeated that performance today, earning silver behind Croatia's duo of Josipa and Ivana Jurkovic. The Croatian sisters took the early lead on France and Canada at the 500-meter mark, with the U.S. sitting in fourth about a length back. But, Koven and Esse quickly took third place from Canada in the next 250 meters before inching into second ahead of France by the halfway point.

 

The Americans continued to put distance between themselves and the rest of the field as they tried to chase down Croatia. At the line, Croatia won gold by a length in a 7:17.20. The U.S. took silver in a 7:19.79, with Germany coming from fifth to win the bronze medal in a 7:22.39.

 

In the men's four with coxswain, the U.S. crew of coxswain Jimmy Catalano (Greenwich, Conn./University of Wisconsin), Erik Spinka (Southport, Conn./Princeton University), Christian Tabash (Alexandria, Va./Harvard University), Will Geib (Portland, Ore./United States Naval Academy) and Liam Galloway (Ridgefield, Conn./Yale University) won the bronze medal. The U.S. boat got off the line quickly, grabbing the lead in the first 250 meters, before Italy moved into the top position about 750 meters into the race. The Italian crew continued to walk away from the rest of the field over the middle thousand, as Ireland moved into second position. Germany tried to make a push on the U.S. for the bronze medal as the crews entered the final 500 meters, but the Americans were able to hold off the challenge and secured a spot on the podium. Italy won gold by a length of open water in a 6:06.40. Ireland took the silver medal in a 6:12.84, with the U.S. a half-length back in third with a time of 6:14.69.

 

"We had a really fast start, but Italy and Ireland definitely had the better middle piece," Catalano said. "I am really, really proud of my guys."

 

The lightweight women's pair or Lindsey Rust (Roslyn, N.Y./Stanford University) and Bonnie Pushner (Fairfield, Conn./Princeton University) won the bronze medal. Italy grabbed the lead within the first 10 strokes of the race and held a length advantage at the 500-meter mark, with the U.S. a half-length ahead of Germany for second. Italy continued to add to its lead over the next 500 meters, as did the U.S., which held a three-quarter-length lead on the Germans at the midway point. However, Germany made a big move over the third 500 to come up even with the Americans before pulling away over the final quarter of the race. Italy won gold by a length of open water in a 7:31.65. Germany finished second by a length in a 7:38.01, with the U.S. winning bronze in a 7:41.94.

 

The lightweight women's quadruple sculls crew of Ruthie Lacy (Oklahoma City, Okla./Oklahoma City University), Grace Beery (Seattle, Wash./Boston University), Grace D'Souza (Whitefish Bay, Wis./University of Wisconsin) and Isabella Begley (Moorestown, N.J./Syracuse University) finished third in the three-boat final. Italy led the entire way down the course, clocking a 6:44.31 to win by more than nine seconds. Germany finished second, with the U.S. crossing in third in a 7:09.43.

 

The lightweight men's pair of Collin Hay (Shrewsbury, Mass./University of Delaware) and Nathaniel Sass (Buffalo, N.Y./Boston University) finished fourth in their final, just missing a medal. Italy took the lead early in the race, with Chile sitting in second and Uzbekistan in third. As the crews hit the halfway point, Italy had built its lead to about a length. However, Chile began to press the Italians in the third 500, pulling to within a half-length, and then overtook Italy in the final 250 meters to win the race. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan held about a boat advantage over the U.S. for third heading into the final quarter of the race. Hay and Sass tried to close the gap, but Uzbekistan was able to hold off the challenge and pull away. Chile won gold in a 6:47.58, with Italy taking silver in a 6:49.98. Uzbekistan won bronze in a 6:52.46, with the U.S. clocking a 6:55.60.

 

The women's four with coxswain crew of coxswain Hannah Broadland (Sacramento, Calif./San Diego State University), Elena Collier-Hezel (Buffalo, N.Y./University of Michigan), Holly Drapp (Tampa, Fla./University of Washington), Anna Scott (Denver, Colo./Yale University) and Sarah Brunsberg (London, England/University of Pennsylvania) finished fifth in the final. Germany led the race through the 1,000-meter mark before Romania took over the top spot. The Romanians clocked a 7:12.79 to win the gold medal over Germany by about half length. Italy finished third a deck behind the Germans. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:26.63.

 

The lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Jack Stone (Providence, R.I./Dartmouth College), Cooper Tuckerman (Bozeman, Mont./Dartmouth College), Christopher Stich (Old Greenwich, Conn./Dartmouth College) and Sean Ward (Downingtown, Pa./Dartmouth College) finished sixth in the final. Germany won the gold medal with a time of 5:56.23, followed by France 1.45 seconds behind. Italy won the bronze medal. The U.S. clocked a 6:09.17.

 

The women's quadruple sculls crew of Clare Naughton (Burlington, Mass./Yale University), Susan Cook (Portland, Ore./Boston University), Margaret Hedeman (Concord, Mass./Yale University) and Samantha Henriksen (Chicago, Ill./University of California) finished third in the B final for a ninth-place finish overall. Poland led the entire race, winning with a time of 6:38.58. The U.S. sat in second position for most of the race before getting caught by a bowball by Estonia in a photo finish. The Estonians clocked a 6:42.43, with the Americans just 0.03 seconds back in a 6:42.46.

 

The U.S. had five boats racing in semifinals on Saturday morning.

 

Racing in the first of two semifinals of the men's single sculls, Will Legenzowski (Vista, N.Y./Brown University) finished fourth, missing a spot in tomorrow's medal race. He now will race in the B final for places 7-12. Legenzowski sat in fifth place for the first half of the race before overtaking Hungary's Bence Szklenka just after the midway point. Poland's Piotr Plominski led from the start, winning the race in a 6:55.51. Belarus' Yauheni Zalaty finished second, followed by Belgium's Tristan Vandenbussche. Legenzowski clocked a 7:04.36, finishing a little under five seconds behind Vandenbussche.

 

Lightweight men's single sculler Nicholas Aronow (Laurel Hollow, N.Y./Oak Neck Academy) finished fifth in his semifinal and will now race in the B final for places 7-12. Aronow got off the line in sixth place and could never work his way into a qualifying position for the final. Italy's Niels Torre won the race in a 6:58.51. Aronow finished with a time of 7:05.65, finishing 1.31 second back of Estonia's Elar Loot and the third qualifying spot.

 

In the second semifinal of the lightweight women's single sculls, five-time Under 23 National Team member Brigid Kennedy (East Greenwich, R.I./Harvard University) also finished fifth and will now race in the B final. Kennedy dropped to fifth in the first 500 meters and could not get back on terms with the race leaders. Italy's Silvia Crosio won the race in a 7:34.64, overtaking Germany's Cosima Clotten just before the 1,500-meter mark. Clotten finished second, with Ireland's Cliodhna Nolan taking third. Kennedy finished with a time of 7:50.19.

 

The lightweight men's double sculls crew of Simon Dubiel (Seattle, Wash./University of Pennsylvania) and Eli Rabinowitz (Rye, N.Y./Georgetown University) finished sixth in the second of two semifinals and will race in tomorrow's B final for places 7-12. The U.S. dropped to sixth off the line and never challenged for a qualifying spot. France used a strong second half to win the race in a 6:22.78, with Switzerland and Poland also advancing. Dubiel and Rabinowitz finished with a time of 6:46.07.

 

In the women's single sculls, Anna Matthes (Cambridge, Mass./Yale University) also finished sixth in her semifinal and will race in the B final. Matthes rowed in sixth position throughout the race. Germany's Alexandra Foester won in a 7:40.17, followed by South Africa's Katherine Williams and the Czech Republic's Anna Santruckova. Matthes finished with a time of 7:56.11.

 

The U.S. also had four crews racing in placement finals on Saturday.

 

In the men's double sculls, Tucker Thomas (Naples, Fla./Boston University) and Simon Hatcher (Portland, Ore./Brown University) finished second in the C final for a 14th-place finish overall. Moldova's Alexandr Bulat and Alexandru Masnic grabbed the lead in the first 500 meters and went on to win the race in a 6:24.69. After getting off the line in third, Thomas and Hatcher overtook Canada for second place during the final stretch, finishing with a time of 6:27.59.

 

The men's pair of William Purtill (Villanova, Pa./University of Pennsylvania) and Michael Wilson (Braintree, Mass./University of Pennsylvania) finished third in the C Final for a 15th-place finish overall. Purtill and Wilson got off the line in fifth before moving into third position in the second 500 meters. South Africa won the race in a 6:40.77, followed by Uzbekistan. The U.S. crossed the line in a 6:47.04.

 

The women's double sculls duo of Josie Konopka (Philadelphia, Pa./University of Pennsylvania) and Kate Maeitta (Wayland, Mass./University of Pennsylvania) also finished third in the C Final, taking 15th place overall. Slovakia won the race in a 7:19.03, with the U.S. finishing with a time of 7:30.26.

 

In the men's four, Andrew Michael Curry (Dallas, Texas/Dartmouth College), Jordan Backer (Sacramento, Calif.), Louis Gallia (Sacramento, Calif./University of Washington) and William Roesler (Oakland, Calif.) finished fifth in the C final for a 17th-place overall finish. Hungary won the race in a 6:05.81, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:25.42.

 

Finals will conclude on Sunday starting at 9:30 a.m. local time with the remaining A and B finals. The U.S. will have the women's four, women's eight and men's eight racing for medals. Racing is being streamed live daily at www.worldrowing.com.

 

Complete press coverage, athlete bios and links to event information are available here. Follow along with the U.S. Under 23 National Team as it competes at the 2021 World Rowing Under 23 Championships by using the hashtag #WRU23Champs.

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